Critters

 Late afternoon brought the deer into the back yard to graze.  This buck found grass on our leach field to use as his supper and in addition, his buddies joined in the feast.  They have only started to venture this close to the house as they search for food this winter.  I counted 15 in this herd, 6 of which were bucks like this fellow.  A couple of does along with their chubby fawns lingered longer and even settled down for a quick nap before I had to let the dogs out into the yard after their supper. 

 I rise early every morning, because early day is my favorite time and because it has always been a way of life for me.  As a child, we had chores to do and had to catch the school bus mostly in the dark. In addition, our dad was always up early and we spent time together as we did chores and had breakfast with him after chores were done.  I still cherish the couple of hours early before the real day begins for me.  However, my critters are another story.  They sleep now in the laundry room and powder room area above, but when they hear me rise and open the baby gate, and hurry out to potty, they look forward to going back to sleep.  Roger above rushes back to his bed and Hildy and Spencer snuggle up on the couch.

 Only the cat greets the new day with enthusiasm.  I attempted to change the bedding yesterday and she decided to challenge me to finish the project with her help. She made herself a nest in the sheets and I just had to walk away until she got bored with her little game.  I am sporting new wounds where she won the next battle yesterday as she got herself wound up in the thread in my sewing machine. 

With the new year upon us, and the years ahead shrinking for us baby boomers, I have taken note of all of the unfinished projects I have accumulated.  My goal is not to leave this earth with a lot of half-done quilts and other crafty, artsy stuff. I started to make a list of those things I wanted to finish and guess what?  If I live to be 115 (Heaven forbid), I will not get this done.  Plus I ran out of lines on the dang paper.  I need one of those BIG CHIEF tablets.  Do they make them any longer?  And if I embark upon that task, where do I start?  I couldn't decide so I have started new projects instead.  I will have to start getting up earlier.